Oscars 2017: 8 Things The Academy Screwed Up

7. Best Documentary Going To The Wrong Film

What Happened

While White Helmets winning Best Documentary Short was absolutely spot on, ESPN's excellent 30 For 30 Film, OJ: Made In America wasn't the best candidate to win. It was great, obviously, and it won a very, very good category, but it was not the best.

What Should Have Happened

13th should have won, and not simply for political reasons. Though there is obviously an unwritten sentiment that documentaries are to be enjoyed for their slick productions and all of the technical flair you expect from normal feature films, there's also a higher regard placed on truth and on emotional transaction. In that respect, 13th deserved to win.

Also take into account the fact that Ava DuVernay's story of systematic failings in the American prison system is a far more difficult story to tell than OJ Simpson's (though it's reductive to say that's all it's about, of course), but it definitely faced more struggles to tell its truth. Again, it was a close-run thing, but the best documentary did not win.